When I Eat I Feel Guilty

Posted by Rise Martial Arts

04/06/2012

In our news saturated society there is no shortage of articles telling us what is bad for us to eat and what the latest “miracle food” is. Many are written by journalists who I am convinced have no idea what they are talking about. They are designed for attention-grabbing headlines so they can sell add space. We are told about the latest study claiming correlation with some food group and heart disease or cancer. A careful read usually will show that the conclusion is “preliminary” and more and better tests are needed. But this does not stop the headline writers from making this sound conclusive and factual.

After seeing so much of this I found I had a hard time eating much of anything without feeling guilty. It was either the wrong food, prepared incorrectly, preserved improperly, coated with something bad for me, grown hazardously, or stripped of any nutritional value somehow.

So with so much “advice” coming at us, and many people pumping a particular lifestyle, are there some simple guidelines we can use to relieve the guilt? Here are some of mine:

The closer to the food source the better. There is an inverse relationship between food processing and health benefits

Ignore the popular food theories, especially those purported by government agencies, because they will be reversed in 20 years

Pretty much anything, in excess, is bad for you

If the ingredient list contains the words “partially hydrogenated”, don’t eat it

We all need fats, protein and carbohydrates. But if you go overboard on any one of these by trying to drastically reduce another, that’s not good

Thankfully Tammy is my nutrition expert of choice, and also is a fantastic cook. I don’t feel guilty anymore. What are your eating guidelines?